


Point of View

by WorryinglyInnocent



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), The Tournament (2009)
Genre: Anyelle, F/M, Macelle - Freeform, Prompt Fic, nude photography
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 04:19:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12380766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WorryinglyInnocent/pseuds/WorryinglyInnocent
Summary: Prompt fic: Photographer Belle French solicits Father Joseph Macavoy’s help for a project that she’s working on. When he finds out that it will involve posing naked for her, he’s more than reluctant to agree, and it’s up to Belle to persuade him…





	Point of View

Joseph knew, on the face of it, that as a priest in charge of the spiritual well-being of a large flock, he shouldn’t really have a favourite member of his congregation. He also knew that despite this assertion, he did indeed have a favourite member of his congregation, one who would always make his day when he saw her sitting there in the pews listening to his sermon, and giving him that little smile that made him feel like it was just for him. He was lucky, really, because he got to see Belle French far more often than he would the regular church-goer. Being as she was a professional photographer, she was frequently in the church having been employed to take pictures of the many weddings and christenings that took place there, and since her father was the local florist, she could also be found helping out whenever the church required fresh flowers for decoration. Joseph had long since come to the conclusion that he would do anything for Belle French.

Except, perhaps, what she was asking him to do now.

It had all begun the previous week after the service, when he had been talking to people at the door of the church, wishing them well, keeping them in his prayers, dispensing thoughts and advice as required; all perfectly normal things in a day’s work for a priest. Then Belle French had come over to him, and asked if she could make an appointment with him later in the week to discuss a project she was part of that she hoped she could secure his help with. At the time, Joseph had agreed without question. Now that appointment had come and he was beginning to regret his decision. Not that he had actually committed to anything yet. He’d simply met with Belle to discuss her proposition, one that was making him break out into a cold sweat beneath his dog collar.

“You want me to do what?” he asked, wishing that his voice had not come out so much like a squeak.

“It’s for a good cause,” Belle said brightly, but good cause or not, Joseph was still having trouble getting to grips with the idea. “The charity that I’m working with is dedicated to combatting homophobia, and they had the idea of getting priests involved. Because of the whole ‘homosexuality is a sin’ thing that so many people spout.”

“Right.” Joseph was still not entirely convinced that the venture was a good idea. “It’s a very worthy undertaking and you have my full support for it, I just really don’t think that it’s a good idea for me. I mean… Who wants to see me?”

Belle shrugged and turned that beautiful winning smile on him.

“I do,” she said.

“You’re part of an extremely small minority, I’m sure,” Joseph said. “Even so… Does it have to be naked?”

“That’s sort of the whole point, Father,” Belle said. There was an amused expression tugging at the corner of her mouth, and not only did it make her even more attractive than she already was, it gave him the distinct impression that she was teasing him. He stared down into the depths of his cup of tea, trying to process what had just happened.

Belle French, photographer and light of his life, had asked him to pose for her for a nude charity calendar.

“Don’t worry, it will be very tasteful,” she said. “I’ve got plenty of experience with boudoir photography with both male and female models. I know what I’m doing.”

“Right.” Joseph continued to address the teapot instead of his conversation partner. “Belle, I’m, erm, flattered that you would approach me about this, but really…”

“I can understand your nervousness,” Belle said gently, giving him her smile again. “I know that a lot of people are nervous about doing such a thing. But I know that you’ll be the perfect model and it would mean such a lot to me if you could get involved.”

It wasn’t so much the fact that he would be photographed naked that bothered Joseph. Well, it was one of the many things. These things also included the fact that in his life so far the only women who’d seen him naked could be counted on one hand and were made up solely of his mother and various members of the medical profession. Not to mention the fact that the woman who would be seeing him naked this time around was _Belle_ , of all people. He might manage to look vaguely presentable with his clothes on, but he knew that he was not at all impressive without them, and Belle might take one look at him and rescind her invitation. Coming to think of it, Belle was not the only person who would probably have an adverse reaction to his unclothed body. Joseph felt himself beginning to panic.

“Belle, I can’t. I mean, look at me.”

He gestured to his skinny frame, and Belle shrugged.

“I am looking at you.”

“What I mean is that no-one would want to see me with no clothes on. I may be a priest but I’m not naive, I’ve seen all the semi-naked firemen calendars that grace the shelves towards the latter part of the year and I really can’t compare with them.”

“I know,” Belle said, and how she could be so completely matter of fact about the entire thing was beyond Joseph. “But you’re not a fireman, you’re a priest, so no-one is expecting you to look like a fireman.”

“Are you sure?”

Belle smiled, and reached across the table to pat his hand. Her touch felt like it was scalding him, and Joseph finally managed to meet her eyes.

“I’m very sure,” she said. “And I can assure you that at least one person would want to see you with no clothes on.”

She drained her tea and got up to leave. “I’ll let you think it over and give you a call tomorrow to talk about it again?” she suggested, and Joseph nodded dumbly, trying to process what she had just said, blinking slowly at the teapot as if it was going to hold all the answers he needed.

At least one person… Was she talking about herself? Oh dear, this was the worst idea in the world. He really didn’t want to let Belle down, but at the same time, he was convinced that he was going to make a complete arse of himself - literally - and end up letting her down anyway.

But Belle had said that she would want to see him. She had calmly talked down all his arguments against it, most of which were to do with his own body image. He pushed those thoughts aside and tried to focus on the very sensible reasons not to go through with this that did not boil down to the fact that he would be naked in a room with Belle French. He was a respected member of the community and he would end up the laughing stock of his congregation if he were to do this. He could only imagine what his superiors would say when they found out. The sensible part of his brain was telling him that there were other priests in the area who had already agreed to be part of Belle’s project and therefore these things weren’t too much of a concern, and in the end he had to admit that the main overriding fear that he had was a purely personal one. It was for a good cause, his brain kept telling him, and nothing that was for a good cause could bring with it too much ridicule from his parishioners. Besides, as long as he didn’t tell any of them what he was doing, then given the demographic he usually catered to, it was unlikely that any of them would ever come into contact with the finished product.

No, it was being naked in a room with Belle French that was the problem. He really didn’t want to let her down, and he really didn’t want to admit the reason why he would let her down, and he was already spiralling back into something of a panic just thinking about the conversation that would take place the following day.

X

By the time the phone was ringing and Joseph was answering it knowing full well who was on the other end, he still had not come to any kind of decision and was, if possible, even more confused than he had been before.

_“Hello, Father,”_ Belle said brightly. _“Have you had a chance to think about my proposal?”_

“Yes.” Considering that it was practically the only thing that he had been thinking about for the past twenty-four hours, he would have been hard pressed to say no.

_“So, what do you think?”_

“I’m really not sure, Belle.”

_“What are you not sure about?”_ Her voice was inquisitive, but gentle with it, and if Joseph thought that confessing his attraction to her would help matters then he would certainly be tempted to do so at that moment. Of course, that was probably out of the question and would make everything much worse, so he remained silent on that score, and Belle continued to speak.

_“If you’re worried about privacy, it’ll only be you and me in the studio, I do my own lighting work. And if you’re worried about the congregation recognising you, then we don’t have to show your face; camera angles can work wonders.”_

He was running out of excuses that he could use as a blind for the real reason, and he really didn’t want to let Belle down.

_“I would love for you to be involved,”_ Belle continued. _“And you’re really a very handsome man, Father, so I wouldn’t worry about that.”_

Joseph took a deep breath, trying to ignore the fact that she had just called him handsome.

“Very well,” he said. “I won’t let you down.”

_“Thank you so much! I know you won’t let me down, I know you’ll be absolutely fine. Certainly, it might be a little awkward at first but we’ll take it slowly and we won’t do anything that you’re not comfortable with. I’ll be there to help you out.”_ The excitement in her voice was almost palpable through the phone lines, and Joseph felt a wave of relief wash over him. It wasn’t so much the thought that everything was going to be all right, because the same fears were still there, but it was Belle’s confidence and determination that nothing was going to go wrong and that it would just be the two of them that made him think that perhaps the ordeal would be survivable. All he had to do now was actually survive until the date set.

X

Over the course of the fortnight between Joseph agreeing to Belle’s proposal and him actually arriving at her studio to fulfil his end of the bargain, he had flip-flopped over his decision so many times that his head was in a complete spin. The number of times he had found himself with his hand hovering over the phone, ready to call Belle and tell her that he just couldn’t go through with it, was ridiculous. In the end though, he had talked himself out of it every time, because rational thought had finally beaten him over the head and allowed a tiny smidge of common sense to shine through. What was the worst that could happen? If it was only going to be himself and Belle, then it wasn’t as if he was facing humiliation in front of a crowd, and if anything went hopelessly wrong on the day, then it would just be the two of them who would bear witness to it. And in the end, Joseph knew Belle. He knew that she was a kind-hearted soul in all respects and if anything happened, she would not laugh at him, she would just help him along as she had promised to do when they had made the arrangements.

Getting dressed that morning, with the strange knowledge bearing down on him that he’d be getting undressed again in very short order, Joseph glanced down at his lap and was forced to admit to himself the final fear that was still festering in the back of his mind.

Belle was a very beautiful young woman, and this morning would not be the first time that Joseph had woken up from heady dreams of her that vanished upon opening his eyes but that left him with an undeniably hard cock in memory of the night’s imaginary adventures. Joseph had taken vows of chastity just like any other priest leaving the seminary to begin his career did, and he had long since come to the conclusion that breaking that vow with his own hand was a far lesser sin than breaking it with someone else. Should such a bodily indiscretion occur during this session, then there would be absolutely no way of hiding it nor taking care of it, and it would necessarily engender some conversation between himself and Belle about it. Two things tried to quiet his worry in this regard. The first was the most obvious - that he would be so nervous and uptight throughout the entire proceedings that the problem would be a moot point. The second was the fact that something in the back of his mind told him that Belle found him attractive too, even if there was no desire to act upon that attraction.

Still. Whatever happened, it was too late to back out now, and he set off to meet his destiny, however that would play out.

Belle opened the studio door with her camera in her hand and she waved him through into her workspace. It was beautifully set, with old furniture and an approximated altar in the centre.

“I didn’t think it would be appropriate to use a church as a setting,” she explained, “but I wanted to keep the religious theme since that’s the whole point of the project. I can paint in some extra details to make it look less like a studio setting afterwards if I think it needs it, but it might benefit from looking more stylised. We haven’t really decided on a final look yet.”

Joseph nodded. “So, erm, how do we go about this, then?”

“I’ll take a few test shots of you now, as you are, so that I can check how the lighting looks in general and make any adjustments that I need to.”

Well, at least the first few pictures taken were relatively painless. Belle had him stand and sit in various places in the room and moved around lights and reflector panels until she deemed things perfect.

“Of course, once we actually start I might have to do some moving around again, but I think we’re ready to begin. You can change in that room there.”

‘Changing’ wasn’t really the word that Joseph would use in the circumstances, but he nevertheless entered the small room and felt immeasurable relief on finding a robe hanging on the back of the door. He very purposefully did not look in the mirror as he undressed, waiting until he was firmly covered up again before risking a glance. How Belle could be looking forward to seeing him like this was beyond him. He was just a scrawny little guy, a priest for crying out loud. There were far better looking men in the world that she could want to photograph.

There was a tap on the door.

“Ready?”

Joseph left the room to find Belle waiting for him, and she looked him up and down critically for a moment. Joseph gulped, but she smiled at him.

“Perfect. Now, let’s work out a pose for you.”

“Belle,” Joseph began, because perhaps having no underwear on had increased his sense of carpe diem, “why me?”

“Because I know you and I like you?” she replied, not really paying much attention to the question as she looked around the studio with an expert eye.

“No, not like that. I mean, why not use professional models? It’s not like I’ve got my dog collar to show that I’m a priest. We’re all fairly nondescript under the clothes. Why not go for someone with more visual appeal?”

Belle turned to him then, considering his words carefully.

“Well, I think you’ve answered your own question in part. You’re all fairly nondescript under the clothes. That’s part of the point of the project, to show that we’re all fellow humans on this journey through the world together, and religion shouldn’t be a barrier to that. And again, that’s the point of using real people rather than professional models.” She smiled. “And my opinion of your visual appeal aside, I’ve photographed men whom the world would consider to be conventionally appealing and attractive - I’ve photographed models before, and believe me, I much prefer amateurs with less sense of their own beauty. One guy I did a shoot for was really very overconfident in the size of his equipment and was most put out to find that the camera never lies.”

Even in spite of his nerves, Joseph had to smile at this revelation, as Belle continued to consider the room and where she would put him.

“All right,” she said eventually. “I think I have the perfect solution, since I know you’re quite shy about the whole thing, and you have a beautiful profile.”

“Oh.” Joseph blushed. He was fairly sure that nothing about him had ever been called beautiful before.

“Could you stand at the table there please?”

Joseph did as bid, letting Belle walk around him and look at him from every angle, before finally sitting on the floor off to one side and looking through her camera viewfinder.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I think we have a winner, a nice half profile. If you turn to your right just a little.”

Joseph dutifully turned to his right and he heard Belle snap a practice shot.

“Here.” She scrambled up off the floor and showed him the picture. Half profile, showing his side and back more than his face, which was turned away. He could have been standing at the front of his own church giving a service, except for the fact he was wearing a robe rather than his usual clothes.

“As you can see, the angle means that your leg and the table are protecting your modesty.” Belle gave him a wink. “Nothing to worry about. Not that I think you’ve got anything to worry about anyway.”

Joseph almost choked on thin air, because Belle was definitely flirting with him now. She just gave a giggle.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be professional now. I just wanted to try and put you at ease a bit more. Your shoulders are still very tense and that’s going to show on film. But for the record, it is true.”

Joseph was sure that his face was now beet red, but Belle kindly did not mention the fact.

“So, are you ready for the main event?” she asked.

Not in the slightest, Joseph thought to himself, but he nodded nonetheless.

“Excellent. Just pop the robe off then and I’ll get started. It’ll be over in no time, I promise. You won’t even notice.”

Joseph raised an eyebrow at her because he was fairly sure that he would notice being naked in a situation he was not normally naked in.

He took a deep breath and shucked the robe, looking around helplessly for somewhere to put it without exposing himself too much. That was never going to be a successful task, as Belle came over to take it from him and in doing so got a good eyeful of everything he had to offer. But she didn’t say anything. She just returned to where she had been before and continued to fiddle with her camera, moving this way and that to get the best angle, and he heard the shutter click a few times.

“Perfect,” Belle said eventually, bringing the robe back over to him. “You could almost be a pro.”

Joseph shook his head vigorously, wasting no time in wrapping up in the robe again and cinching it tightly. Belle just smiled, and for a brief moment, Joseph wondered what she was thinking. She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but then she shut it again, shaking her head with a wan smile.

“I think that’s it for today,” she said. “I’ll take a look at all the shots and clean them up as needed. Would you be ok to come back if I need another batch?”

Joseph gave the request serious consideration for a moment. His immediate instinct was to say no, just as it had been when she had first suggested this to him. But he’d gone through with it now, and it was all over, and the world had not ended in any way, shape or form. He didn’t think that he’d embarrassed himself too badly, and his manhood had mercifully remained under control. He nodded slowly.

“Yes. Ok.”

“Great!” Belle’s grin could have rivalled the sun for brightness, and she went up on her tiptoes to peck a soft kiss of gratitude to his cheek. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me, Joseph.”

It was the first time that she had called him Joseph rather than Father, and the moment was not lost on either of them.

“You’re welcome. All for a good cause, after all.”

And for you, Joseph added mentally but knew better than to say.

“Well, I’ll let you get dressed again now,” Belle said. “And for the record, you really don’t have anything to worry about.”

Blushing furiously, Joseph returned to the little changing room where his clothes were waiting for him, and he contemplated Belle’s completely serious words, keeping them close to his chest for the next time he saw her smiling at him from his congregation.

He smiled too.


End file.
